There have been many recurring characters throughout Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda franchise. While antagonists like Ganondorf frequently appear trying to take over the kingdom, others like Tingle or Beedle often serve as cartographers and merchants that can be encountered by Link in various locations throughout Hyrule.
However, some character have vastly different characterizations throughout their recurring appearances. From central characters in the story to supporting characters from the Zelda universe, these six characters may have the same names or backstories, but they couldn't be more different from each other.
6 Impa
Impa first appeared in the original NES title The Legend of Zelda's instruction manual, though she made her first fully-fledged appearance in the flesh in Ocarina of Time. That version of Impa, however, couldn't be further from the wise old woman in the original games, instead serving as Princess Zelda's protector and the last of the highly-skilled Sheikah tribe.
Impa's reappearances in subsequent titles have varied between these two forms, with Skyward Sword featuring both a young warrior Impa and an older sage Impa. As of the most recent titles, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, old woman Impa plays an integral role as Link's mentor following his reawakening.
5 Rauru
Although Rauru was originally the name of a town in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, it was reused for one of the Seven Sages in Ocarina of Time, who guides Link as a talking owl named Gaepora Kaebora. The character was absent from subsequent iterations of the franchise, until the most recent entry, Tears of the Kingdom, on Nintendo Switch.
In the Switch title, Rauru first shows up as an apparition to Link in the game's tutorial section, later revealed to be the ghost of Hyrule's first king. Though this version is just as anthropomorphic as the original Rauru, he also serves a similar purpose of assembling the Sages against Ganondorf, though with a completely new goat-like design.
4 Happy Mask Salesman
Many The Legend of Zelda fans know the Happy Mask Salesman through his appearance in Majora's Mask. After having the cursed mask stolen from him by the Skull Kid, the Happy Mask Salesman appears to Link early in the game, mysteriously instructing Link to regain the titular mask from the Skull Kid in order to return to his homeworld of Hyrule.
In the previous title, Ocarina of Time, the Happy Mask Salesman plays a much less central role. In the game, the Happy Mask Salesman is a simple merchant who rents Link several masks, which Link can sell to others in order to obtain a mask that lets him decipher Gossip Stones. Though he's just eccentric, he's not as frightening as his Majora's Mask iteration.
3 King Of Hyrule
The King of Hyrule is an important character to the Zelda franchise, though he didn't appear in the flesh until The Wind Waker. In the GameCube title, it's revealed that Link's talking boat, the King of Red Lions, is a personification of King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, the ancestor of Princess Zelda, who appears midway through the game sporting a now-iconic white beard.
This design recurs in Breath of the Wild as the design for the game's own new king, Rhoam, who appears as an Old Man guiding Link at the start of the game, a similar role to King Rauru in Tears of the Kingdom. Whereas the king from The Wind Waker is more authoritative to Link, King Rhoam is more of a foreboding figure, warning Link of the dangers to come.
2 Purah
Technically, the Purah who appears in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom is the same character, a brilliant Sheikah scientist who works for the kingdom of Hyrule. However, in Breath of the Wild, Purah's experimentations with anti-aging technology has made her appear as a young girl despite being over 100 years old.
By the time Purah returns in Tears of the Kingdom, however, she's matured a lot both physically and emotionally. Her intellect remains the same, but her role is also gravely smaller, as Purah simply remains the head of the investigation following the Upheaval, while in Breath of the Wild she was responsible for upgrading Link's Sheikah Sensor.
1 Princess Zelda
Few characters in The Legend of Zelda have received more different interpretations than the titular princess herself. Zelda's roles in the franchise have varied from damsel-in-distress, to antagonist, to companion, and even to missing person. Titles like The Wind Waker have even featured her alter egos like Tetra, who are brattier and more wild than the princess.
Even between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Princess Zelda's role in the games are vastly different. While Zelda mostly appears as Link's friend in flashback sequences, in Tears of the Kingdom her true self is mostly unknown after she falls back in time and seems to be responsible for terrible occurrences throughout Hyrule.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available for the Nintendo Switch.